Winter hot pot: How to eat healthy

Hot pot is a winter must-have when friends and families get together for a big meal. Here are some tips and a nutrition chart for hot pot food. Check and choose healthy things to eat!

• Choose a healthy broth

Many people prefer spicy broth because the hot soup keeps them warm in winter. However, the fact is that the calorie count you consume in spicy broth can be much higher than a clear soup broth. If you find the clear soup to be too mild, try sour cabbage or kimchi soup. They will be tastier while containing fewer calories than a traditional hot, spicy broth.

• Less meat, more vegetables

We all love to eat endless beef slices or fish balls, and never feel full. However, a healthy hot pot cannot lack vegetables. Leaf vegetables, such as spinach, lettuce and cabbage, will provide you with vitamins, minerals and fiber and help maintain digestive health. Tofu is also a good choice for hot pot since it is relatively high in soy protein, which may protect the brain and reduce the risk of heart disease. Potato tastes great in hot pot, but be careful, as eating too much starch can make you gain weight.

• Drink juice or tea beverages, not alcohol

Fresh fruit and vegetable juice, yogurt and tea can replenish our dehydrating bodies without causing gastrointestinal reactions during meals. Alcoholic beverages, however, stimulate the human digestive system. It is not recommended to drink beer while eating hot pot.

Hot Pot Food Nutritional Values

Serving Size

Calories

Fat

Carbohydrates

Protein

Clear soup broth

750g

250

/

/

/

Kimchi soup broth

750g

300

/

/

/

Sour cabbage broth

750g

600

/

/

/

Spicy soup broth

750g

1800

/

/

/

Chicken breast slice

1 slice

14

0.54g

0g

2.07g

Beef slice

1 slice

30

1.09g

0g

1g

Pork slice

1 slice

34

1.50g

0.5g

5g

Tofu

100g

70

3.5g

1.5g

8g

Spinach

100g

23

0.4g

3.6g

2.2g

Cabbage

100g

25

0.1g

5.8g

1.28g

Lettuce

100g

13

0.2g

2.2g

1.4g

Mushroom

100g

27

0.1g

4.1g

2.5g

Potato

100g

77

0.1g

19g

2g

About Ling-Mei Wong 黃靈美

Editor of the Sampan, the only bilingual Chinese-English newspaper in New England
舢舨報紙總編輯。舢舨是全紐英倫唯一的中英雙語雙週報。